winners of the games won all things sweet- nutella jars, cupcake boxes, toblerones and more.

the only alcohol being served was sangria and beer. but a LOT of it was consumed.

the food was ALL Indian. as per the theme.

there was a mumbai street food stall {with mini baked vada pavs, misal pav, dhabeli and kadhi samosa}, a south indian counter, a parantha counter {with all kinds of paranthas with achar, onions and the works}, a gola counter and then of courselots of main courses, salads and deserts.

i regret not eating as much as i would have liked to :( {common compliant for ALL my wedding functions}

BUT i had a blast and it all got over too soon.

thinking about it now and going through the pictures at work makes me cry a little. if only i could re-live those three days again and again and again. oh and the honeymoon too!

^^ as favours for all the guests my mum hand painted wall paintings for each guest. they were all so beautiful. i had a few friends send me pics {post the wedding} with the paintings hung up on their walls. it took her a whole year to make so many of them !^

looking back, i don’t think my wedding and any of the functions would have been possible without help from every single family member of mine. so many of them flew in from different parts of america, germany, japan, new zealand and so many parts of the country. them being around me and living with us for the entire week was probably my favorite part of the wedding. memories to cherish forever.

so MUCH has happened in these past two months that just beginning to think about where to start has overwhelmed me and hence the delay in posting.

these were by far the BEST two months of my life {so UN-expected ;)}

so starting with one my favorite pre-wedding events – the bridal shower

my sister, who’s pregnant and lives in san francisco planned the whole thing with the help of my cousin here in mumbai.

inspite of her pregnancy and inspite of a new job AND a new house. i really got lucky in that department.

the shower was perfect in every way. every single detail was taken care of with so much thought.

my family spent the greater part of the weekend decorating my mama’s hose in neon. the theme was – ‘neon and neutrals’ as if you know me you’d already know that i’m obsessed with all thing NEON.

all – the friends - very enthusiastically followed the theme. thank god we decided to do away with the ‘best dressed award’ as i really wouldn’t know who to gift it to. so many innovative neon outfits.

^^ on the way to my ‘surprise’ bridal shower ;)^^

^^ the beautiful house {do you love the neon pom poms as much as i do? i want to decorate my house with them for always!}

^^ and then there was a hershey’s chocolate fountain^^

^^ and name customized mimosa glasses with the champagne shipped in all the way from frisco! {do you SEE the amount of planning?!}

^^ there were also neon party favours – cookies with A and my initials and wedding date inscribed in them with yummy icing – all homemade by my talented cousin Maitri ^^

^^ a neon note board! handmade by my sister and cousin {man don’t i have the best there is in the sister department?}

^^ a semi-neon macroon cake, once again homemade by Maitri ^^

^^ and the last thing neon – gifts for the bridal shower game winners^^

^^ we played a really fun game of ‘dress your team mate in toilet paper to make her look like a bride’ – can anyone guess who won?^^

^^ and thats just us having a great time^^

so much effort put in by everyone in the family. words cannot express my gratitude. the bridal shower really set the mood for the rest of the events that followed!

p.s. Maitri owns her very own bakery in Mumbai called Carousel – the bake about. you can check her out on facebook if you’d like to give her goodies a try.

just got back from our long weekend in amby valley city. our friends have a beautiful house on the hills and it was great to escape the hot, sticky mumbai weather for a few days.

the air out there is so fresh and delicious and you don’t even realise it till you’re back in this city and breathing mumbai air.

it was great catching up with friends, relaxing, playing board games and eating all the food in the world. amby never fails to impress.

this time we even rode ATVs. which was my favorite part of the weekend. since i can’t drive {?!} ATV is the closest i come to driving a car.

i also tried a few games of play station with A and i finally get why he’s so obsessed with his PS. it’s addictive!

i am so glad tha,t after much contemplation, i decided to take time off from work before the D day. i feel significantly happier and lighter. and have all this extra time to spend with friends, family and more importantly myself.

i have barely been posting here on bluebay these days. and i feel horrible about it.

have missed this space more than I’d like to admit.

so OMI’s cheerleader has been one of my favorite songs this month. the catch line it goes like this “O i think i’ve found my self a cheerleader, she’s always there when i need her”

it makes me realise how important it is to be your husband’s/ partner’s/ fiance’s/ bf’s biggest cheerleader. this song’s a good reminder because SO very often i forget, in spite of knowing it’s whats most important in any relationship. not that i’m knowledgeable enough to give relationship advice. but if i had to give any… this would be IT.

be his BIGGEST cheerleader and you’ve got your self a life long relationship ;)

on a different note – times are changing WAY too much around here. hence the sporadic blogging.

for starters we get married in 2 months. TWO. close

and then I change my house. my home. my family {well kinda} and my JOB.

Saloni’s leaving town tonite! the country actually. to move to - guess where??? the place that has taken away all my other loved ones :( a.k.a. the united states of america

last saturday was our last night out in the city with her (as a resident).

we went to aer and then to tryst. YES i still love tryst.

and i still love love MY friends. even after all these years. just AS much.

we went to goa to celebrate my birthday. A and I and a few of our friends.

we stayed at this BEAUTIFUL place called ozran heights beach resort. now that i’ve discovered this place i don’t think i’m going to stay anywhere else in goa. it’s so calm and isolated but still right where all the action is.

i’ve always loved goa during the rains. it’s such a great time to visit. not very crowded, not very commercial and the perfect weather!

we spent most of our time at the hotel. it has it’s very own zaffran restaurant. so the food scene was sorted.

on sunday {one day after we got there and day before i turned 28}, A and i went for breakfast and then for a hike outside our hotel. we climbed down the rocks and sat by the ocean. it was fun and beautiful and once we got back to the hotel he said he had something to give me. i thought it was my birthday gift, but he came back went on his knees and gave me the prettiest diamond ring i’ve even seen. he designed it himself {!?} and said the sweetest thing.

after he was forced to repeat the whole act {kneeling et all} at brittos at lunch in front of all our friends and the rest of the patrons. there was a lot of hooting, claps and pictures. i turned red {because i’m not very good at being in the spot light!}

at night he took me to the banyan tree restaurant at taj village {vivanta} for a very special birthday dinner. we had the thai curry, chicken salad and an amazing bottle of french rose wine.

it was a PERFECT day and i have go e through the events of the day over and over again a 1000 times since then..have to pinch myself sometimes!

this trip will by forever be my most memorable one. and i know i’ve said it a bajillion times already but – inspite of his moodiness and temper tantrums and that fact that i’m almost pulling my hair out once a week because of our silly arguments – i love him and am so v grateful that he came into my life. at the very right time.

^^ the hotel <3 the rooms are all standalone cottages with a beautiful porche over-looking the sea^^

^^ hiking {okay mini hiking}in to the ocean ^^

^^ the ring!!, i haven’t put a picture of my hand wearing it as i may have the ugliest hands in the world {also they weren’t manicured ;)}

^^ after lunch at brittos we went for a massage at sukho thai next door^^

^^ birthday cake, right before we went for dinner to the banyan tree ^^

the next few posts are going to make my blog seem more of a travel blog than what it actually is.. which is ??… just a PLAIN blog about my life, things i’m grateful about and would want to remember forever…

two weekends ago, a few girls and i headed to pune to celebrate a friend’s bachelorette.

we stayed at the oakwood service apartments. i must admit, every time any one would go to pune and tell me they were staying at oakwood i’d always wonder why they chose oakwood over westinn or O hotel. but now i know….

the place is one big party house. and they have these huge well furnished apartments. and room service. and great food. and we were around 8 girls living comfortable in one apartment. v reasonable too!

we ate and partied at the usual pune places that mumbai people go to – malaka spice, euriska {which btw i highly recommend. always.} and danced at miami till the wee hours in the morning – which was my favorite part of the weekend.

^^ selfies on the car ride to pune!! ^^

^^

^^ posing by the poolside - that’s what you get when you get too many girls in swimsuits all together – lots and lots of pictures ^^

^^ tanu and i fooling around with the camera.. i’m always making fun of how her face just goes into pout mode so instantly the minute the camera comes on^^

it was fun to meet my to-be family and get to know them (a.k.a. party with them;))they were so jovial and just SO fun. caught me by surprise, if you ask me.

in other news, went to amby valley last weekend and the weather was SO darn good. such a break from the oven that mumbai becomes this time of the year.

i’m pretty sure one of these days on my way to work i’m going to have a heat stroke…

AND in further news – two random unconnected things i learnt this month that i always want to remember:

1) each one of us must confront our own fears, must come face to face with them. How we handle our fears will determine where we go with the rest of our lives. to experience adventure or to be limited by the fear of it – tiger eyes, by judy blume

2) people always judge other by the model of their own limitations – so don’t give their judgment as much importance as you do..

everything was amazing. especially the deserts. we even asked for repeats!

^^ it was great catching up with friends on a weekday. everyone’s so caught up in their lives these days. with work. marriage and babies even! we have decided to make it a weekly ritual. here’s hoping we keep up to it! ^^

this weekend. we had saturday off {i feel like those saturdays never come!} so A and i decided to try out byblos.

it was his idea. and am i glad he suggested it? the place was perfect. it’s fun, different and casual. with great food!

we tried the hummus with chicken, kheema lamb bolognese and the grilled stuffed chicken.

ended the meal with beignets {kinda like donuts} and cheesecake.

^^^ i love having saturdays off. the weekend seems so much more satisfying. and also i love spending time with A. specially after a good meal. let’s just say that food makes him very happy ;) ^^

we also tried out the wine fest at radio club this weekend. it had a great wine selection. though i wasn’t a fan of any of the wines i tasted. but then, i wouldn’t say i know much about wine..

^^ ended the night with these cuties at irish house. i love these girls and it’s ALWAYS a fun time with them around^^

we took a trip to puducherry {formally known as pondicherry} this weekend

we were 6 girls. 2 of them who i’d never really met before.

i didn’t expect to have such a good time.

puducherry is a small city {more like a french colony} at about a 3 hour drive from chennai.

it’s beautiful and often i found myself thinking that i was walking in a small town in europe. definitely not india.

it has the cutest small restaurants /cafe’s {outdoor and indoor} each of which have a charm of their own.

we met so many friendly people and owners of these restaurants.

it also has great beaches. specially some of the lesser known ones.

the best part of the trip however was my companions. i had such a good time with the girls. getting to know them and just realizing how similar we all are. i know i say this often but it still surprises me every time i meet someone i’ve never met before and find myself having so much in common with them and connecting so well with them.

and here’s our short vacation in pictures…

^^ us posing for pictures in our hotel lobby. we stayed at le royal park which was great and v reasonable, the only negative being that it was a ten minute rickshaw ride from the french quarter.

once we got there, we found the staff slightly rude and we did not end up getting a table, so we went on to another restaurant called le dupleix {which i cannot recommend enough! it was beautiful and the food was beautiful too, it deserves a post to itself}

^^ our first morning in puducherry, purva and i decided to explore the city while the others were still sleeping. we walked around aimlessly in the french colony/ white town district and happened upon all these beautiful places… ^^

^^ for breakfast we went to this super funky and relaxed rooftop cafe called kasha ki aasha. we had the regular pancakes and the chocolate pancakes. we also tried their bruschetta/tomato & cheese sandwich. it was such a fun place and we ended up spending way to many hours lounging. they even let us play our own music on our speakers ^^

^^ we all agreed that villa shanti was one of our favorites. we went there for lunch. and it totally lived up to all the recommendations we had got from others. ambiance AND food wise. we ate indian. and had great cocktails. ^^

^^ one of the highlights of our 4 day vacation was when we happened upon a restaurant called disdis & co. the owner was this sweet lady who has a tiny boutique attached to the restaurant. we bought lots of things.

further, she recommended bodhi beach to us. she said it was one of the lesser explored beaches in the city and that we would love it. we spent almost the entire next day at the beach. ^^